TRIVIA TIDBITS

Welcome back to Trivia Tidbits where this week I have a special Oscars trivia post just to get you in the mood for the big day on Sunday. So without further ado, let’s just dive right in…

1: According to legend, the name ‘Oscar‘ was given to the statuettes by Margaret Herrick, the Academy’s librarian. The statuette, reportedly, looked like her uncle Oscar.

2: To qualify for Best Picture, a film needs to be at least 40 minutes long, have shown at an L.A. cinema for at least a week in the previous year and have a projection resolution of 2048 x 1080 pixels.

3: Currently Jack Nicholson is the most honored male actor with 12 Oscar nominations, and 3 Oscar wins. However, one of Nicholson’s was a supporting actor for “Terms of Endearment” (1983), his best actor nods were for “One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest” (1975) and “As Good As It Gets” (1997).
Daniel Day-Lewis also has 3 wins and all of those were for best actor in “My Left Foot” (1989), “There Will Be Blood” (2007) and “Lincoln” (2012).

4: Famously, Meryl Streep has accrued the most Best Actress nominations with 18 to date, that include 3 wins for “Kramer Vs Kramer” (1979), “Sophie’s Choice” (1982) and “The Iron Lady” (2011).
Although, Katharine Hepburn still holds the record for the most wins with 4. Those were for “Morning Glory” (1932-33), “Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner” (1967), “The Lion In Winter” (1968) and “On Golden Pond” (1981).

5: The ‘unluckiest’ movies since the first Oscars back in 1929 are Herbert Ross’ ballet melodrama “The Turning Point” (1978) and Steven Spielberg’s “The Color Purple” (1986). Each received 11 nods but won nothing.

6: The most successful films in Oscar history are “Ben-Hur” (1959), “Titanic” (1997) and “Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King” (2003). Each took home 11 awards – although “Return Of The King” was the only one of those to take home every award for which it was nominated.

7: The youngest Best Actor winner is Adrien Brody aged 29, for “The Pianist” (2002). The oldest is 76 year-old Henry Fonda for “On Golden Pond” (1981).
Christopher Plummer aged 82, would later become the oldest person to win an Oscar but that was for a supporting role in “Beginners” (2011).

8: Before his untimely death, actor John Cazale had appeared in only five films during his brief career and all five – “The Godfather” (1972), “The Conversation” (1974), “The Godfather: Part II” (1974), “Dog Day Afternoon” (1975) and “The Deer Hunter” (1978) were Oscar nominated.

9: The Best Director award has been shared only twice in Oscar history. Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins won for “West Side Story” (1961) and Joel and Ethan Coen shared the spoils for “No Country For Old Men” (2008).

10: Oscar voting takes place in two tranches: in the first vote, members of the Academy’s 15 branches vote on their area of expertise (e.g. DoP’s vote on Best Cinematography), making five picks in order, as well choosing a movie for Best Picture. These need a 5% share of the vote to secure a nomination. In the final round, members vote on every category with the winner arrived at via a first-past-the-post system.

*Bonus Trivia for the 2014 Awards…
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11: Though he didn’t snag a best-director nod for “Dallas Buyers Club“, French-Canadian filmmaker Jean-Marc Vallée is still an Oscar contender. He shares in the movie’s film-editing nomination under the pseudonym John Mac McMurphy.

12: If June Squibb and Bruce Dern were to win their acting nominations for “Nebraska“, they would become the oldest winners in that category. Squibb at 84 years-old would overtake Peggy Ashcroft (age 77) who won for “A Passage To India” (1984) and Dern at 77 years-old would overtake the aforementioned Henry Fonda.

13: Although competing against one another for best actor in this years awards, Leonardo DiCaprio’s performance in “The Wolf of Wall Street” actually consists of an important warming up ritual that Matthew McConaughey does in real life. The chest beating and humming that DiCaprio does in the film is actually what McConaughey performs before acting. DiCaprio witnessed him doing it once and convinced him to include it in a scene together.

14: It took 31 years since “Reds” in 1981 for another film to receive nominations in each of the four acting categories (Actor, Actress, Supporting Actor & Supporting Actress). David O.Russell achieved it last year with “Silver Linings Playbook” – (Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Robert DeNiro & Jacki Weaver) and has now made it two years in a row with “American Hustle” – (Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Bradley Cooper & Jennifer Lawrence).

So there you have it. 10 esoteric Oscar Tidbits to masticate on. Some you may know. Some you may not. Normal services on the trivia posts shall resume next week. If you have any thoughts, stick your donations in the comment box…

Superb stuff as always here mate. I didn’t know about the stipulations a film must adhere to be nominated for best picture though. Seems harsh that a film has to play in LA to be nominated, although there’s no reason for big films not to I guess.

Absolutely love these things! A couple were completely new to me! One that stands out is the qualifications tidbit. It has to show for one week in an LA theater? That’s odd. What if it shows for six months in New York City but not LA? That means it’s ineligible? I knew these Academy types were strange. 😉

Oh yes, “The Color Purple”. I remember the big 0-11 it received. That’s when you wished you would have just stayed home!!!

Fun post, Mark. Interesting info–I’m surprised by the 40 minute, LA rule, like everyone else. I am excited for Sunday–I usually make a party out of it—champagne, Hors d’oeuvre, etc. Have fun watching it; I wish Her would win, but I think it’s a long shot. Cate Blanchett and Leo DiCaprio are going to win, rightly or wrongly.

Hey Cindy! Sorry for the late reply. Hope you enjoyed the Oscars. I couldn’t really complain with the way it worked out. Unfortunately, Leo was overlooked again but I really couldn’t see past McConaughey!

Always thought his aging as Fredo in the ‘Godfather’ trilogy is some of his best work. Especially his final confrontation with Michael. Cazale’s body language, balding head and thinning sides created a near duplicate of Brando’s Don before succumbing to a heart attack in the garden.

Would also have like to have seen Bruce Dern and Walter Matthau split a Best Actor’s Oscar for their work in ‘The Laughing Policeman’.

Ha! Cheers Joseph. I’m glad these had that effect on you 😉 The name Oscar is very strange. To think this this little uncle would have had such an impact on the film business. It’s bizarre. Sorry for replying so late, man. My reception wasn’t the best.

I thought you would be. It’s a deserving win. As much as I had criticisms about Gravity overall, Cauron’s work behind the camera was exceptional. I was a little disappointed my fellow Celt Fassbender lost out but I’m happy that Her took best Screenplay and that McConaughey won too.

I agree. Hope another Mexican can claim the prize in the future (Alejandro González Iñárritu, especially). I was rooting for The Fass as well but I’m happy for Jared Leto. I really admire him and his speech was amazing.

Caurón was the first Mexican is that right?
Totally agree about Leto. As much as I was rooting for Fassy, Leto was very cool and humble. His speech was great and his Q&A session afterwards was fantastic. It’s on you tube, if you haven’t seen it..

Thanks Ruth. Like I’ve said to everyone, my apologies for the late really here. Don’t know about Brody’s choices these days either, though. He’s made some poor decisions of late. I still think he’s got plenty more to offer though.

Lots of good stuff, here. Some of it I knew, some others I didn’t know off the top of my head, but had heard a time or two before. A couple blew me away. Count me as another who had no clue a Best Pic nom had to show in L.A. Surely, we’re way beyond that being a relevant rule, right?

The L.A. screening rule is why Chaplin’s Limelight won the Award for best Musical Score in 1972, when the film was originally released in 1952. After Chaplin was denied re-entry to the U.S. after going to London for a Premier, the movie played in only a few theaters on the East coast. It was re-released in 1972 and played in L.A., qualifying it twenty years after it was made.